AllMovie

The bitter violence that tore apart the Balkans is recreated in miniature thousands of miles away miniature in this psychological thriller. Hasan (Slavko Stimac) is a Muslim who was born and raised in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo; while he loved his homeland, when civil war broke out between Muslims and Serbians, he was forced to flee the country. Hasan ended up in North Dakota, where he's married to police officer Angela (Aimee Klein) and has been unable to find work. Life in the United States doesn't agree with Hasan, and one of the few things that brings him joy is his car, a carefully restored 1963 Buick Riviera. One snowy day, Hasan loses control of his Buick on the highway and ends up stranded. A stranger pulls over and offers Hasan a lift, and he discovers his benefactor is Vuko (Leon Lucev), a Serbian émigré with a Land Rover and many stories to tell. When Hasan fails to express his enthusiasm for Vuko's stories, Vuko's mood turns sour, and he slowly unleashes a stream of racial invective against him. When Hasan arrives home, he thinks the incident is history, but a few days later Vuko shows up at his door, and while he's courteous to Angela, he curses Hasan in his native tongue, forcing the Muslim to defend himself against the Serb. Buick Riviera's screenplay was honored with the Golden Arena award at the 2008 Pula Film Festival, while Slavko Stimac and Leon Lucev shared the Best Actor trophy at the 2008 Sarajevo Film Festival.